Horn of Africa Drought

Today Valerie Amos, the Emergency relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefed United Nations Member States on the situation in the Horn of Africa.

Noting that more than 10.7 million people across the region urgently need help, Valerie Amos emphasized the fact that the Horn of Africa is facing its driest period in sixty years, and people are increasingly unable to cope. "Added to the drought, this is a region which suffers insecurity and conflict, population growth, poverty and over-utilization of land", she said. "We need to help people in their own country but we are also seeing an alarming rise in refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia."

Describing the gruelling conditions faced by people walking for weeks to find help in neighbouring countries, with around half the children arriving already malnourished, ERC Amos stressed that humanitarian agencies are responding as best they can, but do not have the resources to deal with the scale of the problem. "We already face the most severe food security emergency in the world, and the situation is getting worse. If we are to avoid a deepening of this crisis, we need support."